Google+ Feed Scroller Demo

Google+ Feed Scroller

Google+ Feed Scroller is my latest FREE Joomla 2.5 & 3.x module. Two weeks ago I was in a Skype chat with some Joomla friends and Guy Cook asked if there was a way to show your Google+ posts on a Joomla site. He mentioned there were several good widgets & plugins for Wordpress doing this but not many for Joomla. After doing a fair amout of research it became quite clear, he was correct! Thus the birth of Google+ Feed Scroller for Joomla 2.5 and 3.x. Once you obtain your personal Google+ API Key (instructions below and inside the module options) and enter it into the module options, you'll be ready to show your site visitors any public Google+ feed in a stylish scrolling fashion. Use Google+ Feed Scroller to scroll through your posts or use it as a scrolling news or entertainment feed.

Why spend money on something that the original script author, Mike More, gave to the internet community for free. Google+ Feed Scroller is and will always be FREE!

Downloading and installing Google+ Feed Scroller into your Joomla website is super easy. Install like any other Joomla module, add and adjust the module options to your needs, assign it to a template module position, assign it to a working menu(s), save and DONE!. Now, let's get down to business and pass along how all this is done...

First and foremost you will need to obtain a Google+ API Key (this module will not work without this data).

Enabling API access and getting your API Key

Enable the Google+ API services. Without this you will not be able to access your feeds.

Select API Access

Under Simple API Access, grab your API Key. Hang onto this as we will need it to access any of the API services.

Getting your Google+ ID

If you don't already know where this is located, head on over to Google+, click on your image in the upper right, and click Profile. In the address bar, it will now have a link like https://plus.google.com/111186306945378269991/posts. The yellow hi-lited data is your Google+ ID code. Please Note: some public feeds are companies or organizations that have registered and use their name as a Google+ ID. You will use their registered name as the Google+ ID module option with one exception; You may or may not have to place the plus symbol in front of their proper name. Example: The Joomla Google+ feed sometimes shows up in their URL as just 'joomla'. Google+ Feed Scroller will not display this feed until you put the plus symbol in front of it. So you will need to enter into the Google+ ID module option, +joomla.

Setting-up your Google+ activity stream

Now that you have the Google+ ID and Google+ API Key, you will enter this data into the module options and adjust the other settings to your needs.

MODULE SETTINGS & OPTIONS:Google Plus API: Enter your personal API data here.Google Plus ID: Enter the feed data you wish to dsplay.Theme Style: Select between Light or Dark.Image Height: Enter in pixels the image height from your feeds.Image Width: Enter in Pixels the image width from your feeds.Container Height: Enter in pixels the overall height of your module.Number of Feeds: Enter the number of feeds you wish to scroll through.Show Feed Images: Select Yes/No to show images from your posts.Show Profile Header: Select Yes/No to show the header image and data.Avatar Size: Enter in pixels the size of your header avatar.Show Replies: Select Yes/No to show the replies count.Show Plus Ones: Select Yes/No to show the Plus One count.Show Shares: Select Yes/No to show the shares count.Auto Scroll Feed: Select Yes/No auto scroll through the feeds or not.Stay Time: Time delay in m.seconds for a post to display before it moves down.Slide Time: Time delay in m.seconds for a post to slide down.Fade Time: Time delay in m.seconds for a post to fade in.Bottom Branding URL: Bottom branding URL (i.e. http://www.yourURL.com). If you do not want an active branding link, just enter the pound symbol = #. Leave blank and no branding data will show.Bottom Branding Text: You branding text. Basic HTML tags are supported for custom styling.

There is a 'Load jQuery' option for Joomla 2.5 installs in the Advanced Settings (default is set to No). Based on your specific Joomla 2.5 install and site configuration, you may need to change this option to Yes for this module to function.

Tips, Tricks, Known Issues and Credits:

With this initial release the scrolling feed will not pause when you mouse over the module. This fix is being worked on and should be available in a future release.

If you choose not to auto scroll through your feeds, make sure you adjust the Container Height tall enough to show all the feeds you wish to display. I'm planning on adding a scroll bar to the code in a future release.

The Google+ API places a bandwidth restriction on all Google+ external feed displays. If this module stops working for you, check your Google+ bandwidth usage to see if you have exceeded this limit.

In order for this module to function correctly, entering the 'correct' Google+ API Key is... key! The instructions given above in obtaining your own personal key is correct as of this release (July 2013). I did encounter a slight problem getting this module to work because I have eight Google+ API Keys within my account. Choosing the right one was simply a 'trial & error' process! Generally it will be the FIRST one listed within your account if you have more then one. Please understand... I can not support you on obtaining your Google+ API Key. That will be between you and Google.

Thanks to Guy Cook for his inspiration and asking for this type of module. Thanks to Mike More for his incredible script.